A DESERT NINCOMPOOP i8i 



and roll some of the extra eggs back in again. This 

 foolish performance goes on for several days and 

 sometimes until there are more than forty eggs in all. 



I have seen nests surrounded by a dozen broken 

 shells from which the contents have been emptied. 

 It is said that when the young begin to be hatched 

 the parent breaks open some of the remaining eggs to 

 feed the chicks which cannot stand the rough food of 

 the desert. But I am inclined to doubt this. Prob- 

 ably the broken shells are only sad signs of the 

 hungry hyenas who have slipped in while the cock 

 and hens are away at the water hole and had a meal 

 at the expense of their labors. 



Natives steal eggs by locating the nest and waiting 

 until the birds are off. Sometimes they will throw 

 rocks on the hen left behind on guard, driving her far 

 enough away to make it safe to approach. It is 

 against the law in South and British East Africa to 

 rob an ostrich nest, but the blacks do so whenever 

 they are out of sight of authority. 



Probably the hyena is the greatest egg thief of all. 

 So much of a scoimdrel is this fellow that he breaks 

 more eggs than he can eat. Such is his practice 

 in his other hunting; indeed, I have seen him ham- 

 string goats, one after another, when there was no 

 chance in the world of his ever feeding on them. 

 Small felines, such as the gennet, civet and wild cats, 

 also enjoy an ostrich egg as a change of diet. Herds 



